Vader's words when Luke tries to convince him to join the Rebels and give up the Dark Side. "It is too late for me my son." He truly believes he does not deserve redemption, and that his chance for redemption vanished the day he killed Padme

The rancor's owner sobbing because his pet has just been murdered. Even worse in that this rancor was horribly abused in Jabba's care and that they're not normally killing machines, and that its owner was actively trying to escape with it.

One that caught the filmmakers completely off guard: Malakili, Jabba's rancor keeper, weeping after its death, just like any other pet owner in the situation. Tales from Jabba's Palace reveals that he was planning to escape with his pet for a more peaceful life, but then this Jedi showed up...

Actually expanded on in Backlash: Luke watches some Rancors in the wild and remembers Jabba's. He is remorseful that he had to kill it, believing them to be beautiful creatures, but he states that Jabba's rancor had been so mistreated and abused that it couldn't have been helped by anyone. Death was a mercy for its existence of being used as an executioner and gladiator beast. That last part is made even worse by the reveal in a short story that Jabba had the rancor fight dangerous creatures for sport, and he was planning to have it fight a Krayt Dragon which would have destroyed it without effort.

Even the 1983 RotJ novelization points out that the rancor is just as much a victim of Jabba's cruelty as the people it eats.

The rancor's weak moan before expiring (in contrast to the frightening roars he did before) suggest that despite being a scary giant hungry beast it's a Non-Malicious Monster who is just desperately hungry 'cause it was being abused and half starved.

No matter how you might feel about the Ewoks, you probably still get affected when one of them is killed, and another who barely avoided the blast tries to wake him up before realizing the truth. Speaking Simlish at its most moving. It's the agonized scream of the dead Ewok that sells it. Think about it from their perspective. They've openly volunteered to fight an enemy that overpowers them in every respect beyond sheer numbers. They're losing, they're being driven back, and then we get to see firsthand the consequences of their decision to fight. Its quite heartrending, and sums up the horror of the conflict in one short, simple scene.

Making it worse is the dead Ewok's name. What is it? Corpsy.

Luke turns himself over to Vader on Endor, trying to reach the part of Anakin and believing that there is still good in him. Vader finally says in a tone "It is too late for me son. The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now." Luke sadly responds, "Then my father is truly dead." But secretly, he still would not give up. And it's seen that Vader is truly shaken by his words...

Right before he turns himself in, he tells Leia everything. In the span of only a few minutes, Leia learns that Luke is her brother, Darth Vader is her father, and Luke is going off to confront Vader, with the strong possibility that he will not return.

Early on in their fight, Luke struggles to control his anger, catching himself when he manages to knock his father down a flight of stairs. He shuts off his lightsaber and says softly, "I will not fight you, father." The sad, quietly emotional way in which Mark Hamill delivers the line is quite moving.

Vader's overall slumped almost lifeless stance when his son is being tortured. It really drives home how much damage Palaptine did to him.

Luke rising from his fetal position to witness his father saving him. You can tell not only was he ready to die but saddened realizing that his father will not survive the power lighting blasts.

Even more when he begs Vader to help him: "Father, please! ...Help me."

Can you imagine his expression under that mask? The horror, pride, envy, and agony that Anakin has to be feeling at that second? "My son. My flesh. He's been through so much and it never broke him. Why did it break ME? How can I ever live up to HIS example?" THAT is what makes that scene so powerful. Luke is reminding Anakin Skywalker of what it MEANS to be a Jedi... something he'd forgotten for decades.

Anakin's damaged breathing as a result of taking Palaptine's lighting it just sounds... so pitiful and you can clearly tell Anakin is struggling to breathe on his own moments after Palaptine explodes.

Luke's final, plaintive cry of "Father!" just before Vader looks up from him to the Emperor, then grabs the Emperor while the Force theme plays.

Anakin: Now... go, my son... Leave me... Luke: No... No, you're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I've got to save you! Anakin: You already have... Luke... You were right... You were right about me... Tell your sister... you were right...

"Father, I won't leave you!" Immediately followed by Vader/Anakin's death and Luke quietly sobbing alone.

The look on Luke's face when he takes the mask off and sees his father's real face for the first and last time. You can tell he wasn't sure what to expect and that seeing him for what he really is —a scarred, broken old man— is both relieving and heartbreaking.

The novelization ramps all of this all the way PAST 11 and into infinity; even before Anakin dies, Luke weeps over the fact that the last sights and sounds his father will experience is the chaos in the Death Star hanger bay, not to mention over Anakin's appearance. Anakin, for his part, reassures Luke, "Luminous beings are we...not this crude matter." Which, of course, was first told to Luke by Yoda back on Dagobah, in a nice Call-Back moment.

The music used during the "Vader's helmet comes off" scene also warrants a mention: It's a brilliant combination of eerie and mysterious, soft and touching, and heartbreaking. Never has the Imperial Death March sounded so unique.

Anakin's funeral scene. And when Luke sees the Force ghosts of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan during the victory celebration scene afterwards, it's also a great heartwarming moment.

When the A-Wing crashes into the command room of the Super Star Destroyer and causes it to pull into the Death Star and explode, everyone in Ackbar's ship cheers in celebration, except for Ackbar who simply slumps in his chair in quiet mourning for the pilot who just sacrificed his life for the cause of freedom. Alternatively, he's slumping in relief after proving that the Executor-class Star Dreadnaughts are not invincible, or mourning the needless death of Admiral Piett, as, in Legends, Ackbar was the best man at his wedding.

With Han Solo's death in The Force Awakens, along with Carrie Fisher's death in 2016, the final shot of Han, Leia, and Luke in this movie will be the last time the Original Trilogy's Power Trio will appear together onscreen.

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